


Personal Cheerleader

by SunnyD_lite



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Gen, season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-31
Updated: 2010-03-31
Packaged: 2017-10-08 13:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/76314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnyD_lite/pseuds/SunnyD_lite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he finds himself in the dark, someone is there to turn on the light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Personal Cheerleader

**Author's Note:**

> Tamingthemuse prompt: Hello Darkness  
> Set: First Season especially In the Dark  
> A/N: Hugs n kisses to my bestest beta Spiralleds who put aside packing in order to do a light polish on this. Of course all errors are my own.

Angel looked up at the shadow standing on the stairway, backlit by the light from the office above. He wanted to be alone, she must know that. And as Oz had said, he was often laconic.

"Why were you willing to give Spike the gem?" He found the words spilling out. "You especially know what he's capable of." He hadn't believed that they would rescue him. He was the rescuer. It chaffed.

"Like there was a choice, tacky jewelry--and if that gem was precious then Spike's a natural blond — or a genuine hero. Plus, knowing you two, I figured you'd get out and give him the smack down, grab the ring, and we win."

She said it so matter of factly, like it was an objective truth. She'd seen him strung up like a piñata and she still believed in him.

"Anyway, enough with the post-game analysis, we got the right results and YOU got to enjoy the wacky world of UV rays." She glared at him. "Doyle told me that you made it a limited time offer. Is that the reason for this?"

Here she waved her arm around his apartment.

"What?"

"To those of us without enhanced vision, kinda blinded by the gloom here. I've heard of low lighting but this is making an X-file episode look bright'n'cheery. What are you going for? A 'hello darkness my old friend' motif?"

He looked around. Maybe she was right. He hadn't actually noticed. One of the reasons he choose this place was both the sewer access and the lack of natural light. Turning any lights on hadn't seemed important.

"I've let you have 24 hours to brood, which is the same amount of time you had the ring, seems fair." She continued down the stairs and was now standing at their foot, arms crossed.

"What are you, my personal cheerleader?" He dropped his head and shook it. Obviously Spike was a bad influence on him, he didn't think he was normally so...snarky came to mind.

It didn't seem to faze Cordelia, but then few things did.

"Well, d'uh. If I cheered Sunnydale's loser teams-- and when Xander makes the team closest to a divisional championship that kinda sums up good ole SD High's athletic program -- why wouldn't I cheer for someone with a chance at winning?"

She shrugged, which did interesting things to the top she was wearing. "Don't make me break out the pompoms!"

Her mock glare was like a beam of sunshine, a burning beam. He'd given up the power to walk in the sun. It had felt like cheating, but now that he'd destroyed the ring, he was wondering if that had been the right choice.

"As much as I'd love to see if you have natural highlights, Beach Bum Angel would totally flip my world order." Placing a hand on her hip, she continued. "You said the job was to help the helpless. Doyle reported that you thought that the daylight types had enough avenues of assistance. And, seeing how organized the demony types are here in LA - I mean Buffy never fought anyone with a lawyer - I think you're needed."

She dragged over the other kitchen chair and plunked it down in front of him. "You made a choice — I happen to think it's the right one -- and you can't undo it. So you don't get to angst over it. It's like when I decided to wear peach to the Pretty in Pink themed dance, not one of my better decisions but really the dresses in that movie? Hideous. Anyway nothing to be done but power through and make sure that the lighting crew knew which gels to focus on me."

He'd gotten better about not appearing glazed over at fashion talk, years with Darla taught him that skill, but he really wasn't sure what she was saying. "So I should just move on?"

"Not on - forward. You're the mission having vamp; we're here to help you. Let us."

 

Months later, when he lost a day in order to once again lurk in the shadows, he replayed Cordy's pep talk.

As he sat in the same shadows, watching a tub of ice cream melt, he weighed what he had lost: his humanity, his chance to be with Buffy, sharing memories. But despite those losses he'd known the world needed its champion. And realizing that he had friends who cared enough to rant at him, friends who believed that he too was a hero, it lined the bitter with a touch of sweet.


End file.
